Clutch mechanism.



H. A. WATERMAN.

CLUTCH MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED 4BR. 21, 1910.

995,828. 7 rammed J e 20, 1911.

f 15 15 u v l X 5 I V 4 I z i5 I Application filed inn-i1 To'all whom'it may concern:

Be it known that I. llnxm' A. Yvrmmxx, a citizen ol' the United States.residing at .\lilw'aukee. in the eounty ot Milwaukee. and State of Wis-onsin. have inventml certain new and usel'ul llnprovements in ClutchMeehanism. ot' Wlllt'll the following is a speeifieation. i

My invention relatesto eluteh meehanism ot thesplit. ring type. and inpartieular to the eo'nstruetionv ot' the split ring and theautomatieally operating means eausing the ring .to expand in aanannentooperatively engage with the assoeiated parts of the eluteh lneehanism orto allow it to eontraet and he ,t lisene'agrwl therertron1,. mtlolled hythe \"ariahle speed ratio ol the two parts; the ohjeet ot' luv inventionheing: to provide a eluteh meehanism having: 'tew parts. simple andstrong in .eonstruetion. and etlieienl in operation. This ohjeet isattained hy means of the meehanism illustratedin tl 1 aeeompanyine'drawings; in whieh- V Figure '1 represents a top plan view of theassoeiated parts of the elutt'h -ineehanism; Fig. 2 is a longitudinalseetion of the eluteh nwehanism, as shown in I ig. 1: Fig. 3 is a.detail of a ringexpanding wedge; Fig. 4- represents a eross Stt'tlOllot' the' shaft uponwhit-h the eluteh memhers are mounted; Fig. 5 is adetail 01 the split ring; and Fig. (i retn'esents a eros's seetion ofthe, shaft. and the huh ot one of the clutch memhers, showing the mannerof eonneet'ing the two parts. The sarne reference numerals representlike parts throughout the several views.

Referring to the drawings 1 represents a driving shatt journaled inhearings 2 and having a crank secured to one end thereof b means of apin 4. 5 represents a gear wheel looselymounted lIpOn the shaft and'n'evented from moving longitiulinally thereon hy means ot a pin itpassing through the huh oi the wheel at one side of the axis thereof andreeeived hy an annular groove 7 in the shaft, as shown in Fig. 6. 8rern'esents a hearing at: the oppo site end of the huh ot the gear wheeland adapted to loosely receive the elnteh ring 9, that is providedwith'an axial openingv 10 to receive the shaft, and a gap 11 that extends from the opening therein to the pe riphery thereof, as shown inFig. 5, the one wall of the gap being arranged tangentially relative tothe axis ofthe shaft and the op v c 'i e Mechanism. f

spec i fieati bn of Letters Patent, it

21, 1910. Serial No. 556,710.

. Patented June posite wall thereof nearly tangential thereto and saidwalls converging toward the pe- 'riphery of the ring are separated by a.narrow interveningspace 12. i r

' 3 represents a wedge member,preferably angular in cross section, withparallelsides and having, its outer end cut at an angle and adapted tofit against. the side ofthelgapin, the direction of rotation of thegear-wheel and shaft when 'op'eratively eonneeted;'.thei

oppositeside of saidwedge m'eniher being adapted to contact with theopposites'ide.v of the gap. The inner end of .the: wedge. meinher isl'nade circular. in a mannen to he reeeived by the eurved shoulderportion lt of a longitudinal groove 15 in thesha-th-having its bottomportion arranged tangentially; relative to the axis of the-shaft andadapted; to loosely reeeive the innerend ot' the wedge memher. i l

l6 lepresents a radially arranged eut;:.in therin g t) opposite to thegap, whie nearl} severs the ring into two parts; for the purpose ofpermit ing easy expansion thereot.

In operation. the sha t heing turned in the direetion ol the arrow, thewedge, with its inner end ahutting the shoulder of the groove in theshalt, will he projected longitudinally into the gap in the split ringin a manner to eause. expansion thereof and cause it to t'rietionallvengage with the gear wheel, (causing it to turn with the shaft, and itthe ratio of rotative speed of the shaft and wheel he \al'ied. the wedgewill not. he held in pro-.

jeeted relation. hut will permit the ring to eontraet and allow t'reerotation at the wheel relative to the shatt.

\Vhatl claim as being my invention, and desireto seeure by LettersPatent. is: V,

l. A eluteh meehanism in'eludine', in manhination, a rotatahl'e shaft,an annular eluteh ring loosely mounted upon said shaft. a split .elutehring loosely mounted upon said shaft and adaptedto he rereived by saidannular ring" in a n1anner to t'rietionally engage therewith. means foreausing the frictional engagement ot the two eluteh members, ineluding alongitudinal groove in said shaft, and a wedge engagrin; with a side ofsaid groove and withsaid split ring in a manner t to more longitudinallyto eause expansion of the latter when said shaft isturned in one d 1reetlon. 2. A eluteh mechanism ineludmg, in combination, a rotatableshaft, an annular a split clutch ring having an axial opening thatloosely receives said shaft, said split ring being received by saidannular ring in a manner to frietionally engage therewith, said splitring having a gap extending from its axial opening to the peripherythereof, a wedge having one end projecting into said gap and adapted tomove longitudinally in a manner to expand said ring, and a longitudinalgroove in said shaft adapted to receive the opposite end of said Wedge.v

3'. A clutch mechanism including, in combination, a rotatable shaft, anannular clutch ring loosely mounted upon said shaft, a split ring havingan axial opening that loosely receives said shaft, said split ring beingreceived by said annular ring in a manner to frictionall'y engagetherewith, said split ring having a gap extending from its axial openingto the periphery thereof, said gap having one of its Walls arrangedtangentially with respect to the axis of said shaft and the oppositewall nearly tangential thereto, and said well converging toward theperiphery of the, ring, a wedge disposed within said gap and havi. 1gone end cut at an angle in a manner to engage with the side of the gapin the direction of rotation of said shaft, and a longitudinal groove insaid shaft adapted to receive the opposite end of said wedge in a mannerto cause it to be projected into said gap when said shaft is turned inone direction.

.4. A clutch mechanism including, in combination, a rotatable shaft, anannular clutch ring loosely mounted upon said shaft, a split ring havingan axial opening that loosely receives said shaft, said split ring beingreceived by said annular ring in a manner to frictionallv engagetherewith, said split ring having a gap extending from its axial openingto the periphery thereof, and a slot cut in the opposite side of saidring extending from said axial opening to near the periphery thereof,one of the sides of said gap being arranged tangentially relative to theaxis of said shaft and the other side thereof nearly tangential thereto,and said walls converging toward the periphery of said ring, a wedgedisposed Within the gap, having one side contacting with the side of thegap opposite to the direction of rotation of said shaft, and its outerend out at an angle and contacting with the opposite side of said gap,and a longitudinal groove in said shaft adapted to receive the oppositeend of said wedge in a manner to cause it to be projected into said gapwhen said shaft is turned in one direc tion.

Witnesses:

D. A. MOINTYRE. F. C. BRAhLZ-If.

